Marches and vigils replace riots in Ferguson after shooting of Michael Brown

Hundreds of people hold vigils and peaceful marches in the Missouri town after
the fatal shooting of a black teenager prompted four days of riotting

Olivia Bolton and agencies

8:48AM BST 15 Aug 2014

Hundreds of people demonstrated peacefully on Thursday in a Missouri town rocked by days of protests over the fatal shooting of a black teenager, hours after state police were ordered to replace local forces.

Police shot and killed unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Saturday in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, triggering protests and then a police crackdown in which authorities fired tear gas and rubber bullets and arrested reporters, sparking complaints led by President Barack Obama.

Brown's death and the subsequent action by a mainly white police force in a majority black town led to allegations of racism and stirred comparisons with the February 2012 fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida by a member of a civilian neighborhood security patrol.

State Governor Jay Nixon said the decision to draft in the Missouri Highway Patrol had been taken after Ferguson was left looking "like a war zone" after four days of rioting - and there was an altogether different atmosphere on the streets after the governor's move.

The county police response to daily, and nightly, protests since the shooting had been aggressive, with rifle-toting police in military-style fatigues and body armor deployed to crush dissent.

Control of the investigation into the police shooting of Brown will remain in the hands of the St. Louis County force. The US Department of Justice has already announced a separate federal investigation.